Top 10 Division I Incoming Classes

As far as we know, the ranking of incoming collegiate field hockey classes has never been done before.  We have been working up to this and finally believe the time is now!  We are solely ranking the domestic players because they are the ones we have been following, know well, and have ranked in our Player Rankings.  It is just too difficult to include the internationals at this time.  Maybe in the future.

Of course once we got into this project and started looking at all the different angles, we questioned our ability to rank the top 10 incoming classes in order, so we started out by just narrowing it down to our Top 10 programs, which is what you will find below.  We selected these from our 2017 Player Rankings.  Programs that brought in multiple ranked players, especially those with Top 10 and Top 50 players, moved to the top of the list.  Some that just missed the top 10 cut (UVA, UConn, Penn, Liberty, Rutgers, Cal) have 3 or 4 ranked players and could have very well been included but we had to draw the line somewhere and make our picks.

Then we had to decide what it means to be the top incoming class.  Is it which group will make the most immediate impact vs. which will make the greatest impact over their four years with the program?  Five different conferences are represented by the 10 schools we selected- ACC, Big 10, Ivy League, America East, and Patriot League.  It is more difficult to make an immediate impact in a conference like the ACC or Big 10.  How does that weigh on this decision and how you define “impact”?  And we could keep going with this- positionally, needs of a program, etc.

At the end of the day, this is all opinion and we are simply thinking about it like this– If you were a college coach, which group of players would you pick to be your incoming class?

We have in fact just asked this question to the current college coaches via an email survey and will be reporting back later this week or early next week with the results!  College coaches- if you didn’t receive our email and want to participate- email us: [email protected]

We have also included a poll below for you to chime in.  Let us know what you think!

MAX Field Hockey’s Top 10 Incoming Classes (in alphabetical order)
Note: We have included grey shirts (players who graduated early and began college this past spring)

BOSTON COLLEGE

Caroline McGovern
TOP 50
Council Rock South
Princeton FHC

BOSTON UNIVERSITY

Alexis Pettisani
TOP 50
Eastern Regional
Uprise

DUKE UNIVERSITY

Libby Thompson
TOP 50
Lake Forest
Windy City

UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE

Sarah Sabaluski
Lake-Lehman
Xcalibur

Madison Walsh
Next 50
Whitfield School
AIM

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

Hannah Menges
TOP 50
Twin Valley
Xcalibur

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Sidonie LaPlante
Next 50
Middletown Area
PA Mavericks

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA

Meredith Sholder
TOP 10
Emmaus
Firestyx

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

Whitney Williamson
Next 50
MICDS
AIM

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

Julianna Tornetta
TOP 10
Agnes Irwin School
Princeton FHC

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

Emily Surgent
TOP 50
Wall
Jersey Intensity

LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!

[poll id=”5″]